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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28920699">Safe House</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zaphrina/pseuds/Zaphrina'>Zaphrina</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Awesome Darcy Lewis, BAMF Darcy Lewis, Darcy Lewis is Tony Stark's Daughter, F/M, M/M, Mutant Darcy Lewis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:41:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,564</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28920699</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zaphrina/pseuds/Zaphrina</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy is captured and trained by HYDRA from a young age, and has to come to terms that her deadbeat dad is actually an Avenger.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Darcy Lewis, James "Bucky" Barnes/Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>175</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>
  <span>2002</span>
</h1><p>
  <span>Darcy Lewis grew up touch-starved. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mother? Dead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Father? Never knew him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Foster families? Afraid of her and her X gene. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was thirteen by the time Charles found her. Thirteen years of being passed around by families who were afraid of her, who treated her like a freak, who screamed at her for hurting the other kids. She never wanted to hurt them. It wasn’t her fault. She was just a kid. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So, at thirteen, when Charles found her, she was skeptical. His speech about other kids like her and a safe place was all fine and good, but when she arrived, she had to undergo a barrage of medical exams and tests. To find out what her mutation did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can tell what it is,” Darcy rolled her eyes as the doctor approached her with kind eyes and gloved hands. “My skin is poisonous.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That might not be all of it, Miss Lewis,” the kind redheaded woman smiled softly down at Darcy, who was hunched over with arms crossed. “Has anything else happened to you ever? Anything you couldn’t explain?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She was nine when they got to grow pea plants in class. Her foster family was so kind to her so far, she wanted to do so well in school. All she wanted was for her pea plant to be the best in the class. All she wanted was for it to grow tall and green and beautiful. She hadn’t meant for the thing to grow from a seed to a tall sprout to a fully grown pea plant in a matter of seconds. She hadn’t meant to disappoint her family with her freakishness. She hadn’t meant to-</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, you’ve still got time to grow more and learn more. We’ll just take some blood samples. Are you ready?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Doctor Grey told her that it wasn’t her skin that was poisonous, it was her blood. But her blood fed into the oils on her skin, the saliva in her mouth, and the sweat she broke into when told there was something wrong with her blood. So, her touch was poisonous. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We can work on your control so that your blood doesn’t affect your other bodily fluids. So that you can become poisonous or not poisonous at a single thought,” Charles had explained to her during her second meeting with him. “It will just take practice.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Darcy just wanted to feel a hug without fear of pestilence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She went to school for two years before she touched another person. When she was fifteen, at the gym, fully covered in clothes from neck to feet, a boy was shoved into her. She didn’t know if it was an accident, if he’d fallen, or if the snickering boys beside him had intentionally pushed him into her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey!” she shouted, backing away from him and glaring. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, Darcy,” he blushed, but the other boys still snickered. That was, until she noticed the blooming rash on the boy's arm where it had come in contact with ehr sweaty back. She blanched. She must have sweated through her shirt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You should go see Doctor Grey,” Darcy put her hands on her hips. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why’s that, Poison Girl?” one of the others asked haughtily. She only pointed to the growing blisters on the other boy’s arm. It was red, and looked gross, but apparently not painful or itchy yet. He only noticed it when she pointed it out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shit!” he exclaimed. “Why’d you do that?” She flinched back at his vindictive gaze. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I…” she backed up further, bravado failing in the face of this visceral anger. “I didn’t mean to.” The boy scowled at her as she edged to the side and ran towards the exit. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span>. She hated that she could only think of the brief second of warmth she felt as his body collided with hers. She couldn’t imagine what a hug from a loved one would feel like. She couldn’t imagine what a handshake would feel like without gloves. Warm? Sweaty? Clammy? She fantasized for a moment about what a kiss would be like. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When she burst into her shared room, she threw herself onto her bed and cried. She hated it. She hated herself. She hated her mother for leaving her alone in this world and she hated her father for being a sperm donor and nothing else. She hated Charles for telling her she could control herself two years ago. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She threw her headphones on and hit play on her Walkman. At least Britney Spears had a new album out. She didn’t hate Britney Spears.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>
  <span>2003</span>
</h1><p>
  <span>When she was sixteen, Darcy got better control over her sweat. It was only produced in certain situations, so while she avoided working out when other people were in the gym, she did work on filtering the toxins out when she actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> work out. She worked with Doctor Grey on the focus it required, and as soon as she got the sweat down, saliva came easier. It took an immense amount of focus, but when looked at under a microscope, her spit looked just like everybody else’s. So, theoretically, she could kiss somebody, but she still couldn’t get the hang of controlling the toxins in the oil on her skin. It would require constant concentration. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When you spend a lot of time focusing on something,” Charles explained to her one day after she’d done some tests, “it becomes easier. You can think about it in the back of your mind. You can do it subconsciously. You’ll get there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was working on it, focusing so intently in the courtyard on not letting the sweat beading on her forehead become a weapon. She was so immersed that she didn’t notice the attack on the compound until there was a bare hand wrapped around her mouth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Keep quiet, and I won’t hurt you,” a gravelly voice grunted at her, and in her moment of panic, Darcy let the toxins come through as she bit the man’s hand. He grunted and pulled back as a bloom of blisters and bumps grew across his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Darcy screamed as loud as she could for help as the man was distracted, and she was a little ashamed to say she ran away into the forest when she saw some of the adult mutants coming to help. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was sweating and panting as she hid behind a copse of trees, watching as the two men she could see were taken down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But, maybe running into the forest during an attack was a bad idea, because in a moment, something hard hit her in the back of the head, and everything went black.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Darcy woke up, she was in a cell. Maybe in a truck, because there was a steady rumbling noise and shaking under her feet. She was being transported. She couldn’t make out the logo on the wall across from her, of the words under it. Her panicked mind was blurring her vision and cursing her to break out in a sweat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was at least several hours when they finally stopped, but Darcy had no watch and wasn’t good at judging time. But it was dark out when the back door opened and two men in all black entered into the truck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who are you? Where am I?” Darcy stuttered out, vision clear enough now to see the insignia on the wall and commit it to memory should the X-Men come looking for her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Keep it quiet mutant,” one of them growled before shoving a metal stick into her cell and jabbing her with it, the electric current jarring her and knocking her out immediately. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she woke up this time, she was in a small white room with a bed, a toilet, and a sink. </span>
  <em>
    <span>This is bad, this is really bad</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Darcy’s eyes latched onto the door handle. However, no amount of forceful jiggling or turning would open it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello?” She called. “Where am I?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello Miss Lewis,” a tinny voice came from all around her. It was accented, but she couldn’t tell from where. “Welcome to our facility. This is your new home, should you behave, you will be able to interact with others. Should you not, you will be contained in this room indefinitely.” The voice continued.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Screw that! The X-Men will find me!” Darcy shouted, hope coloring her voice and tears pricking at her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, ah, ah. That kind of attitude will not get you out of your room. Now, if you behave and let the doctors take some samples, all will be well. If not, we will have to sedate you again.” With a buzz, the voice cut off, and Darcy screamed incoherently at the walls of her room. Not five minutes later, a man in a white coat came in with a metal cart. Darcy was so intent on avoiding him, she missed the two men standing outside the door, so when she ran towards it, they shoved her back in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She fought with her dull nails and kicked at them, but the only good shot she got in was when she focused all of her poison and spit into one of the men’s eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he started screaming, the other one took action and must have tased her, because all Darcy could feel was the electric shock and sudden pain before she fainted again.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>We're going fast but that's because my prologue is like several chapters.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>She wanted to avoid the taser, so she went along with the medical tests. Sometimes they’d explain it, like how they did a test to see her blood type, to examine her mutant gene, or to find some genetic material to search for her father with. She assumed they’d likely try to bribe him with her release, but she doubted her sperm donor would care. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Darcy spent most of her sixteenth year being poked and prodded alone in the room, still touch starved, but now she was all by herself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Sasha,” she raised her eyebrow as the doctor came back in. “What’s in store for me today?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man rolled his eyes at her. Him and the two guards had become accustomed to her sarcasm and wit, but she only looked tired today. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re trying something new today, Miss Lewis,” he replied, showing her a vial of emerald green liquid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She blanched. “What is that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You should have nothing to fear, this is a poison derived from your own bodily toxins. You should be immune to it. We will try topical application first,” he said while coming closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, I dunno,” Darcy backed up. “Just because I’m poisonous doesn’t mean I’m immune to poison.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That is why we are starting with your very own poison,” he replied calmly. “Do not make me restrain you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Starting? What do you mean starting?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man wrangled her into her one chair and strapped her down with his industrial velcro.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Next we will try other poisons.” Darcy gulped. She supposed it was time. She’d been here for months and they’d been taking samples and running tests, but never experimenting on her. She supposed that since these were the bad guys who kidnapped people, she would have to be experimented on at some point. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She watched as he wiped a swatch of her skin with the green liquid. And, while it did eventually soak into her flesh, nothing happened. Darcy’s heartbeat calmed finally and she heaved a sigh of relief after several minutes of nothing happening.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Success,” the doctor nodded to himself before presenting Darcy with a needle with the same emerald liquid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um,” Darcy’s eyes widened, wit lost as she watched him come closer. “I feel like topical application is very different from </span>
  <em>
    <span>injection!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” She screeched as the needle pierced her skin. At least it was over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still, nothing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have a nice evening, Miss Lewis,” she was unstrapped and left alone, rubbing at the bandage on her inner arm where he’d injected her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’d become accustomed to Sasha’s presence, but now that it was filled with more malicious intent, Darcy was beginning to feel some of the anxiety and fear she’d felt all those months ago when she first arrived at the facility.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>
  <span>2004</span>
</h1><p>
  <span>Darcy didn’t know the date, but she was sure her birthday had passed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She spent most of those past few months being experimented on with various poisons, viruses, and bacterias, none of which had any effect on her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasha got more and more excited the longer it went on. Darcy was sure her blood could be used to cure diseases and other such things, but she was also sure that, since these were the bad guys, they wouldn’t use it for something that good. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your father is a weapons dealer,” Sasha came in with that news one day. “We’ve been working with his product for years.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So he’s a bad guy too?” She eyes the man up. “Not surprising, considering he left my mom for dead.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Indeed, he is a ‘bad guy,’” Sasha used air quotes, a very Darcy thing to do. It was almost endearing, if Darcy hadn’t been so scared and angry all the time. “I came to tell you that, and also that we’re going to start your training today, Miss Lewis.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Training?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Combat training.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You cannot say no,” he shrugged one shoulder. Another Darcy-ism. “We will set you up with a trainer once you move facilities.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Big move?” Darcy asked warily. She was sure she was still on the East Coast of America, but she wasn’t sure where the headquarters was for these particular bad guys. All she had to go on was “Hail Hydra” and an octopus insignia. </span>
  <em>
    <span>It’s definitely not a hydra,</span>
  </em>
  <span> she scoffed to herself. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hydras have multiple legs. Their logo has one head and multiple tentacles. It’s an octopus.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just so you know,” she called out as he walked towards the exit. “If this is the last time I see you. I wanted to tell you that your logo is an octopus. Hydras have multiple heads with one body, not the other way around.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sasha sighed very deeply.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am aware,” he glanced back at her for the last time before leaving her room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She let the cold, clammy feeling of fear seep in after he left. He was the only constant in her life. And now she would be moving.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>
  <span>2008</span>
</h1><p>
  <span>She’d been at the new facility for four years now, still a sarcastic bitch, but now a highly trained sarcastic bitch. A highly trained sarcastic bitch who endured regular beatings and abuse at the hands of her captors because she couldn’t keep her dumb mouth shut. The one thing she had going was that she hadn’t succumbed to Stockholm Syndrome. She knew she was with the bad guys, but she also knew the X-Men weren’t coming for her. She was twenty one. She couldn’t fantasize about being rescued anymore. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>There is some good stuff though, </span>
  </em>
  <span>she pondered. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I can control my sweat, salive, and body oil. So, if I were in the real world, I could touch people.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Alas, she wasn’t in the real world, and these people knew her well enough that she would try to poison them if possible. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The days flew by for Darcy, until that day, whatever day or year it was, she wasn’t sure. </span>
  <em>
    <span>That day.</span>
  </em>
  <span> It was dark suddenly, red emergency light illuminating the ground. A lock clicked. The door opened. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on, we’re getting out of here,” he was older than her, more muscular. His defining feature was that he had spikes for hair. Another mutant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who are you?” Darcy looked down at the felled guard outside her door and grabbed his taser.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alex. You must be the infamous Miss Lewis,” he commented quietly as he pulled at her sleeve to get her to come along.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Infamous?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They keep you locked up here and don’t let you out to play. The rest of us mutants at least get social time and mealtimes together.” And as he said it, she noticed other mutants who must have coordinated the escape.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you for coming to find me,” Darcy struggled to find a reason they would even care about getting her out, other than out of the kindness of her hearts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ll never get out, not with the Asset on the loose,” A guard growled from his place on the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The Asset?” Darcy squeaked. She’d heard of him, but never seen him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He trained most of us, I don’t know why they kept you apart from us or him,” Alex frowned. “Are you especially dangerous? Powerful?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Darcy shook her head. She didn’t understand her isolation either. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll be fine, he’s out on a-” Darcy wasn’t sure what he was going to say, because as he spoke there was a muffled </span>
  <em>
    <span>bang</span>
  </em>
  <span> and blood spewed from his face to hers as the bullet pierced his skull. Darcy was face to face with a man she hadn’t seen before, but the outfit, the mask, the </span>
  <em>
    <span>metal arm</span>
  </em>
  <span> all screamed at her. It was the Asset.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please don’t hurt me,” she squealed before shooting her taser at him. He grunted as it took him to his knees, but didn’t knock him out. Darcy took off like a shot and ran towards the last of the mutants that were escaping, finally coming to find themselves outside in the… Snow? Where were they?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on,” a girl pulled at her arm towards a loud noise. When they rounded the building, a jet was touching down and a woman in a black catsuit was ushering them all inside.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>WellI, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Darcy thought as she looked between her two options. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Mysterious rescuers sound better than HYDRA jerks who experiment on you.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And who are you?” The agent who was cataloguing them all finally stepped up to her. He was young, with blonde hair and a black eye.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened to you?” Darcy raised her eyebrows.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You should see the other guy,” he winked at her, but tapped his pen on the notebook to get her attention. “Name?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Darcy Lewis,” she responded automatically. His eyes widened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Darcy Lewis? You’ve been on our radar for… what? Tasha? We’ve been looking for Darcy Lewis for how long?” the agent called over his shoulder, and a beautiful, scary redheaded woman walked over. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Five years, since the X-Men lost you. You were the only one who went missing after HYDRA’s failed mission. Well,” she pondered. “I guess it wasn’t failed if they captured you. We’ll have to debrief with the director once you’re all sent through medical and cleared.” Darcy couldn’t get a read on the woman, but the man was checking her over for injury. She flinched when he reached out to her ribs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Watch it,” she growled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, hey,” he raised his hands up placatingly. “Just checking for injuries. How are the ribs?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sore,” Darcy frowned, not seeing any malice in his eyes. “Had a beating a few days ago.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What for?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They kept injecting me with stuff. It got tiring and I fought back,” she shrugged at his raised eyebrows.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How long have you been with HYDRA and you still fight back?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I dunno, a while? Five years according to your friend,” Darcy looked at the ground, tired of this conversation, but when he sighed, she looked up. “I don’t know if you know anything about HYDRA, but they know who my father is, even though they never shared it with me. They said he’s a weapons dealer who has worked with them for a while. If you ever get that file… I want to see him taken down,” she spat out darkly. The man, who finally introduced himself as Clint, nodded at her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll look into it,” he promised. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Darcy spent several months with this new organization, called SHIELD, being debriefed about all her time at HYDRA and going through therapy. Training with Clint and Natasha was… Different. Strict, but less punishing than before. Tiring, but not nearly as exhausting. It was good. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>However, SHIELD got really interesting when Iron Man started showing up. A superhero, not an agent. And when he turned out to be a rich billionaire? Even more interesting. So, Natasha went out undercover, and Darcy, still antisocial, was left with Clint. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s up, buttercup?” He found her at the shooting range, letting off some steam.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just a bad feeling about the new trainers.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Everyone is background checked and intensely vetted before they can even start training, you don’t have to worry about SHIELD,” Clint assured her as he set up next to her and started shooting. “Something else?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Darcy sighed and took a few more shots.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My sperm donor. The weapons dealer. I’ll never know who he is and take him down if we can’t get the HYDRA files,” she sighed, put the weapon down, and turned to him. “And now that I know that somebody knows who he is, and intentionally kept it from me, I want to know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I understand,” Clint nodded. “You know the information is there, and you want in on it. That’s what SHIELD is all about. Using the information we can get to help people. And if he’s a HYDRA weapons dealer, we’ll get him,” Darcy nodded at Clint’s words. She believed they could do it. SHIELD had so many resources.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anyway, your psych eval is coming up. You might be an agent soon, Lewis!” Clint clapped her on the back.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
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